Multiple-gear-cutting machine.



F. L. EBERHARDT.

MULTIPLE GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.3, 1910.

' 1,030,291, Patented June 25,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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P. L. EBERHARDT.

' MULTIPLE GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLIOATION FILED DBO. a, 1910.

1,030,291,y Patented q11111625, 1912.

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l E. L. EBERHARDT. MULTIPLE GEAR CUTTING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED 1920.3, 1910.

1,030,291.' Patented June 25, 1912.

SHEETS-SHEET a.

I Illll/l/IIIMfI/l @2g/gam MM imm# Wm 5y 7,- au@ TTDRNEY UNITED sTA'rEs rMTENT oFrIoE.

rEEnEEIcx L.' E'BEEHAEDT, oE-NEwnmr,y NEW JEEsEm-Assrenon 'ro coULn a 'EEEEHAnDn or NEwanx, NEW JERSEY, A coEronA'rIoN or N-Ew JERSEY.

MULTIPLE-GiE-AR-CUTTING MACHINE.

To all whom it may concern Be itl known that I, FREDERICK L. EncicnAun'r, a citizen of the. United States, and a resident of the eityjof Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Multiple-Gear-Cutting '-Machines, and do hereby declare the following 'specication, taken iii connection with the ,drawings forming a part of the same, to be a full, clear, and evact description of the principle of said invention and the best mode in which l have contemplated applying that rinoip'le,I so as to distinguish it from other inventions. rllhe invention relates primarily to that class of machines exemplified by a milling or gear cutting machine, and more particularly to that type'of machine for cutting the teeth of spur, bevel and worm gears and clutches. A

The object of this vinvention is -to provide a machine in which the teeth of a series of gear blanks may be simultaneously 'cut automatically.

Another feature of tliisinvention `relates to its, adaptability to readily cut either a. series. of spur, bevel or worm gears or clutches.

The invention comprises a series ,of workholders with means to angularly adjust same, a. cutter spindle, having a series of cutters mounted thereon, means to rot-ate and reciprocate said cutters with relation to said wrak-holders, an indexing mechanism,

' connections therefrom to'said work-holders,

whereby said work-holders are indexed at thc end of each cycle of reciprocatioiis of said cutters, and means to control said retion may be used.

ciprocating and indexing means. Thel annexed drawings and .the following description set `forth in detail-certain'mechanism embodying means lconstitutin however, but one of the various mec anical forms in .which the principle of the inven- Thc novelty 'A of the invention will, be readily understood from the drawings which lillustrate the invent-ion in its preferred form as applied to a gear cutting machine, andl from the following description thereof.

' The novelty will be more particularlypointed out in the claims annexed to said descriptioni Referring to the arawngsi-*Figure 1 is a Fpeomoation of Letters ratent. Application led December 3, 1910. Serial No. 895,358.

rammed June 25, "1912,

side elevation of a gear cutting machine, embodying the invention, partly in section, to clearly illustrate the internal'construction: Fig. 2 is also a side elevation of the same, but opposite to that of Fig. 1, and'also partly in section.- Fi iis a plan `view partly in section, and gFig. 4 is a sectional view of the indexing clutch. l l

Referring tothe various figures; upon the vertical portion of the base 1, is mounted a reciprocating cutter carriage 2, in which a cutter spindle 3 is rotatably mounted. A series of cutters 4 aresecured to said spindle 3 between a series of bearings 5. The cutter spindle 3 is rotated by a Worm wheel 6 secured thereto, and driven by the Worm 7, which is slidably keyed to the vertical shaft 8. A bevel gear 9 is secured to the lower' end of the vertical shaft- 8 and meshes with a bevel gear 10 secured to a short shaft 11 upon the other end of which the bevel gear 12 is secured which meshes with the bevel gear 13, secured to the main shaft 14. The main shaft 14 is mounted traversely in the frame 1 and receivesrotary motion from a pulley mounted on a hub 16, and transmitting mot-ion to said shaft 14 through the flange 17 secured to said shaft and keyed to the pulley 15.

The feeding mechanism consists of a feed screw 18, engaging a threaded portion 19 of to the lowereiid of the feed screw 18 mesh- `ing with a gear 21 secured to the shaft 22, to'

the lower'` end ofwhich shaft the bevel gear 23 issecured, which meshes with the bevel, gear 24, secured to and rotatable with the reversing shaft 25. Twohelical gearwheels 26 and 27 respectively, are loosely mounted on said reversing. shaft 25 and rot-ate in opposite directions and'each` is provided with clutch teeth on their .opposing faces. A reversing clutch 28 is slidably keyed to said. reversing shaft 25 and arranged to engage either 'of said helical gear wheels and be rotated thereby.

The helical gear 27 is rotated atl aA constant Speed by the gear 29 secured to and rotatable with the main shaft 14 and is to re- .tiaet the cutter carriage. The gear 26 is rov tti-ted opposite to the gear 27 .by the worm 30 which receives its motion from the `main shaft 1 4 through the change speed ears 31.- This gear 26 rotates comparatively s ow and i's for feeding the cutter carriage 2.

the main shaft 14 through the bevel gears 32' The indexing mechanism for the workholdersl comprises a fr1ct 1on clutch mechanism, shown in F 1g. 4, whlch 1s rotated from and the pinion which meshes with and constantly rotates'the clutchY gear 34. The clutch disk 35 is secured to the index drive shaft 36 and has loosely mounted thereon, the clutch gear 34 which tends to rotate said disk35 through the friction leathers 37, which are under the. tension of the Springs '38u The disk 35 is prevented from rotating through thecfrictional 'contact' with 'the clutch gear 34, by the inde/ lever 39, which engages a projection 40 on said disk 35. The index lever 39 is pivot-ally mounted -on .the rock shat't 41. and is operated by the return movement of the cutter carriage which unlocks the friction clutch through the levers -andjods now to be described in detail.

The feedingand retracting movements of the cutter carriage 2 are controlled by a series of levers and rods connecting saidcarriage to the reversmg clutch 28,' A forked lever 42 engages a circular groove 1n the reversing clutch 28, to move same either to the' retract-ing or feeding positiomand is secured to a rock shaft` 43 to whlch a reversing lever 44 is also keyed. The reversing lever 44 is provided with lan arm 45 having attached thereto, a rod 46 whichis secured to one end of the lever 47. The trip or tappetrod 48 is attached-.to the'other end of said lever 47 and is provided withtwo adjustable' tappet dogs 49, thereon, bet-Ween which the projection 50 of the carriage 2 is arranged to operate. The tappet dogs 49 can. be adjusted to any Suitable position on theftappet A rod 4 8 and determine the precise .pointof A10 reversal of thel motion of the cutter car-4 riage; the lower dog limiting-'the downward or feedmotion and the upper dog limiting the retract-ing motion. A spring pressed'phmger 51 is provided-in the reversing lever 44 and engages with a double y inclined cam plate 52 to rapidly reverse the motion of the cutter 'carriage 2. A stop 5,3 is provided to hmit the movement of said reversing lever 4 4 in either direction..

The indexing mechanism is. controlled by the movements ofthe reversing lever 4-1, which is provided with a gear sector 54 en- .gaging with a similar sectoi 55 on the inderi vided with a A -moved longitudinal plunger lever 56, whichis pivoted on the .shaft 57. Aspring plunger 58. is arranged 1n the index plunger lever 56 and ,is prowhereby sai er 58 may be rapidly y out of engagement The plunger 58 is ara bell crank lever 61 plun with the lever 61. ranged to operate which is connected to the index lever 39 by the-rod 62, to unlock thev indexing mechanism upon the-return movement of. the' cut-i ter carriage. The bell crank-lever'61 is also 1n 59 engaging a cam plate 60,-

riously sized c ange 4'speed gears, 'will now i be described in detail.

An adjustable slide 67 is mounted on the horizontalportion of the frame 1 and has hinged to one end thereof,.the tilting bed 68 providedA with a cap 69 in which the revoluble spindles that hold the gear blanks to be 'cut,v are arranged. The two end work-holders are each provided with va worm wheel 71 which, mesh with and are rotated by the worms 72, each preferably integral with the worm shaft 73. The central work holder re ceives rotary ,motion from an end workholder and in the same direction ,through thev three spur gears 74, 75 and 76. The spur gear 74 is secured to the end work-holder and the ear 76 is secured to the central work-hol er, while the gear 75 merely 'acts as an intermediate-gear which can be dis-v pensed with entirely, if it were not desirable to have all the work-holders rotate inthe same direction.. The worm shaft 73 has secured to one end thereof, the helical gear 77, meshin with the helical gear 78, loosely mounte on the hinge-shaft 79. The hinge shaft gear 78 in turn meshes with, and is r0- tated by the helical gear 80, slidably keyedv to the index shaft 65, which shaft is mounted at right angles to said'hinge shaft 79.'

The work holders 70 can be adjusted angularly by-means of a-segment 81, prefer; ably integralwith the .tilting bed 68 'and provided .with gear teeth 82'. A worm 83is arranged to mesh-'with the segmental gear teeth 82 to angularly adjust the work holders A helical gear 84 is secured to theworm 83 and meshes with and is rotated by the helical gear 8'5, slidably keyed to the adjusting'shaft 86, extending through the forwardend of the frame and is provided with a squareend to. receivea crankhandle.l When the work-holders have been properly adjusted, the segmental arm 8l isthen secured to theslide 6l by the strap87' and bolt 88. The work carriage can also be adjusted towardor away from the cutters 4 by means of the .screw 89. and is then clamped inthe adjusted position by the clamphandles 90.

The operation of the mechanism is as' follows: The gear blanks are secured. to the .workholders in the usual way, the'tilting bed isadjusted to the proper position both lon 'tudinally and angularly 1f the blanks to e cue are bevel gears. The tilting becl pet dog is in contact with the projectionv on the cutter carriage. The reversing clutch is thereby thrown from the feeding posi.

tion (as seen in. Fig. 1) to the retracting position. The cutters return until the uppei` tappet-dog is actuated to reverse the motion and again start the feeding motion of the cutters. Just before the completion of the retracting movement, the indexing Inechanism is unlocked and the work indexed for one tooth.

is held from engaging the clutch disk, and the clutch gear and disk 'are bolted together, thus imparting continuous motionl to the work holders. The reversing clutch can be disconnect/ed 'from the forked lever and placed in a neutrallposition, and the work can befed toward the cutters by means of the slide adjusting screw.

Having described my invention and its mode of operation, 1 claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. In a gear cutting machine, the combination with a revoluble cut-ter spindle, a series of cut-ters mounted thereon, an angularly adjustable work carriage, a series of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, means to reciprocate said cutters and means `to index said work spindles after each ex# cursion of said cutters.

2. In a gear cutting machine, the combination with a revoluble cutter spindle, a series of cutters mounted thereon, an angularly adjustable work carriage, a series of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, means to reciprocate said cutters, and means to index said work spindles after each excursion of said cutters, comprising an index shaft, a shaft at right angles thereto, con-y nections between shafts and other connections between said shaft and work spindles.

3. In a gear cutting machine the combination with a revoluble cutter spindle, a series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate said cutters, an angular-ly adjustable work carriage, a .series of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, an indexing mechanism and connections therefrom to said work spindles.

4. `In a ear cutting machine the combination wit a revoluble cutter spindle, a

-If it is desired to cut a series of worm wheels, the index lever series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate said cutters, awork: slide, an angularly adjustable bed hinged to said slide, a hinged shaft, a series of work spindles rotatably mounted in said hinged bed, an indexin mechanism, a `shaft,fconnec tions there rom to said work-holdersy and other connections to said hinge shaft, and

connections from said hinge shaft to said indexing mechanism.'

5. In a gear cuttingA machine, the combi` nation with a revoluble cutter spindle, a series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate said cutters, `an angularly adjustable work carriage, a. series of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, an in! dexing mechanism, an index shaft, driving connections', therefrom to said indexing mechanism and other driving connectionstherefrom to said work spindles.

6. ln a gear cutting machine, the combination with a revoluble cutter spindle, a

series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate said cutters, an angularly adjustable work .rriage, :a series of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, an in` dexing mechanism, a shaft, driving connectidns therefrom to said indexing mechanism, other driving connections'therefrom to said work spindles, and driving connections between said work spindles.

7. In a gear cutting machine the" combi nation with a revoluble cut-teiZ spindle, va series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate .said cutters, an angularly adjustable work carriage, a series. of work spindles rotatably mounted therein, an indexing mechanism, driving connections between said indexing mechanism and work spindles and driving connections between said work spindles.

8.-'In a gear cutting machine, t-he coinbination with a revoluble cutter spindle, a

series of cutters mounted thereon, means to reciprocate said cutters', an angularly 'adjustable work carriage, .a series. -of work spindles. rotatably mountedthereln, a hinge shaft, an indexing mechanism, a shaft parallel to said hinge shaft and 4arranged to swing about said hinge shaft as ya center,

'driving connections between shaft and Work spindles, other driving connections between said shaft and hinge shaft and driving con.`

nec-.tions between said hinge shaft and indexmg mechanism.

FREDERICK L. EBERHARDT.

Witnesses WM. F. ZIMMERMANN, H. EzRA EBERHARDT. 

